Page 43 of Any Port in a Storm

“Hey,” I whisper, sliding into the spot beside him. “What happened?”

“It’s…over,” he says quietly.

“I don’t understand. Things seemed fine between you guys.”

Nick gives a ragged sigh. “We’d had a few arguments. But I thought we were working through them.”

I tilt my head. “What about?”

He absently toys with the abandoned pile of Trivial Pursuit cards. “Doesn’t matter.”

“Okay,” I say, realizing it’s none of my business. Desperate to know, given what I just overheard. “What can I do?”

He shakes his head, eyes downcast. “You don’t have to do anything.”

“I know that. But I want to.” I reach for his hand. “You’re breaking my heart right now.”

“Your heart’s broken?”

“It’s physically hurting me to see you like this,” I say, squeezing his fingers in mine. “Please, let me help you.”

He forces a smile. “Tell me a joke?”

“Okay. How was the Roman Empire cut apart?”

He bumps his knee against mine. “How?”

I bump back. “With a pair of Caesars.”

A sharp groan bursts from his throat. “Oh, Laurel. Wow.”

“Hey, you asked for it.” I toss him a wry grin. “Want more?”

He drags our joined hands up around my shoulder, pulling me into him. “No. But thank you.”

We sit in comfortable silence, listening to Sam and Grace drunkenly duet “We Didn’t Start the Fire.”

“Well, that’s really something,” Nick remarks after a minute.

“A little dissonant,” I agree.

“I honestly expected Sam to be a far worse singer, but Grace is shockingly tone deaf.”

“You should hear her in the shower.”

Nick chuckles. “Thanks for this.”

I lay my head against his neck. “I’m here. Whatever you need.”

“For the moment,” he says softly, “I think I have it.”

“Have what?”

He smiles gently. “Everything I need.”

THIRTEEN

now